


Study Buddies

by TheAzureFox



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: F/M, Math, Money, Science, speculatively an AU, uhh pre-story infatuation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 23:19:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11747268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: Rev gets to know Aoi Zaizen...through studying.(RevxAoi)





	Study Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> *casually adds a RevAoi fic to my collection*
> 
> I know there are people dying for RevAoi content (I feel ya w/ hireshipping and Ema/Shoichi, honestly) so here's my first fic contributed to this pairing. Once we know more about IRL Revolver (and once he plays nice to everyone in the group) I might revisit this pairing and do it more justice. For now, however, this is the best I can do without feeling like I've ruined what little we know of Revolver's IRL personality (considering he probably acts different from his VR form I guess).

Chapped lips.

Strawberry perfume.

Eyes of amber.

He sees her every day.

They’re in the same class. Same teacher, same peers, same room. It’s hard to not notice her. She hides herself away, cold and indifferent and disassociated from the rest of the world. She is only there to attend, to write down notes, ask meaningful questions, and then take her leave.

In some ways, Rev thinks her to be an enigma. He pays attention to her, watches her in the corner of his eyes as he socializes with the boys who vie for his attention. There are girls who come up to her, who gossip and try their hardest to earn her respect. The boys try flirting with her, handling out compliments left and right that she has to shrug off each and every time. Their classmates play fake, play nice, but Rev knows their true intentions. He’s aware of the attention and its meaning as much as she is.

Money.

They want money.

Wealth accumulates at their fingertips. She is the sister of Akira Zaizen, head of security for one of the most important companies in Den City. He is the son of a multi-billionaire inventor, a one-of-a-kind type of genius who only graces the land once in a century. Naturally, they are the targets of the _lesser._ However, while he indulges in it, manipulates his “pawns” left and right in the same way they manipulate him, she does not. She barks and bites, turning away person after person despite their insistence on weaseling their way into her life. Her words are potent. They are daggers that kill and eliminate and yet people crawl to her, one after another, seeking her attention like one might a deity.

Deity.

Yes.

She’s a deity.

He breathes in. Lets it out. Tries not to see the obvious.

Too late.

He notices her fidget with a backpack strap, watches as she tucks away her notes for the day and rises up to make her retreat.

Pause. Breathe. Stand.

Air ripples like water. A breeze strikes him, pushes him back. He moves forth, swimming, and reaches the crossroads where Aoi Zaizen stands erect.

She pauses. Stares. Amber glints with caution. Lips purse with annoyance.

“Yes?”

Bells.

All he hears are bells.

He braces himself.

“Hello.”

~~~

A boy.

A rigid uniform, calm face, stiff body language.

She stares.

Gold eyes envelop her but she is not so easily swayed. She can tell the _want_ that sparkles within, the _need_ that disgusts her on so many levels.

Another one, then.

“Hello.”

Short and simple. Blunt and to the point – an introduction meant to invite and incite a basic reply.

“Hi.”

The boy fidgets, uncertain and unsure. Flounders for a foothold, frowns, and then regains himself.

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I need help on the latest assignment.”

His gaze speaks of intelligence.

His words speak of brutal cunning.

Ah. He’s one of _those._ The type that will beat around the bush and play innocent to get what they want.

“Can’t you ask someone else?”

He shrugs. “Everyone else I talked to was busy or didn’t know the material. You looked like you understood it.”

A well-crafted excuse. She very well can’t deny it or the truth it holds.

“Very well. I have some spare time this week. Do you want to look over it now or later?”

He fails to hide the excited glimmer in his eyes.

“Will tomorrow morning work? Right here in this classroom?”

It would.

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll see you soon!”

A smile.

Relief and just the slightest tinge of denial.

He takes his leave.

~~~

Morning.

Pinks and purples and oranges.

She’s there before he is, nibbling on a croissant. Her gaze sweeps between her books and her phone, eyes flitting between them with mild interest. She doesn’t notice him…or, it only appears that way for a few moments.

Amber peers up from white pages and pale fingers tuck away a lash of brown. Aoi tucks her phone away, offers a polite smile and then signals to the chair across from her.

He takes it, pulling off his bag and placing it to the side. He manifests a textbook and some papers, alongside a pencil and eraser.

She wastes no time in starting, beginning with his first question and moving on from there. In some ways, she’s like a machine. She calculates and moves from one number to another, giving out flawless explanations that explain what he already knows.

Strawberries.

A sweet tinge of perfume.

He’s lost in the _scent_ , the _taste_.

Her gaze is pointed, pinned strictly on the task before her and that task only. She can see nothing else, can talk about nothing but what’s in front of her. It makes Rev wonder if she’s avoiding his attention. It makes him wonder if she’s trying not to look at him, to circumvent seeing _him._

If she ignores him, does that means he doesn’t exist to her?

He taps her shoulder. She startles, gaze finally meeting his.

“Can you explain this again?” he taps a place on the paper before him.

Eyes squint at him and the equation in question. “Do you really not know how to do this?”

He nods.

“I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.”

A total lie. It’s the easiest equation of the whole bunch.

She complies, reiterating her explanation. Lips press against one another, wind echoing out. Rev watches with subtle fascination, blinks, and refocuses in on what she is saying.

“Alright, I think I got it.”

“You better have.” Exasperation. Disbelief. The first signs of crumbling away. “This ones not as complex as the other ones are.”

Rev rubs the back of his head. “I guess the simplicity of it is what gets to me. Everything else I expect a challenge from but this one in particular makes me overthink I guess.”

Her lips twitch upwards. “Really? I happen to think that it is the simplicity that allows one to under think its potential. Many might underestimate its potential, needing only an answer from it. Instead, they should consider its full meaning.”

Rev feels like he’s playing a game.

“Oh? Why so?”

“Everything is complex in life. If they weren’t, we’d end up clones of each other. We’d have no thoughts, no innovation. We’d be objects.”

“Are objects so bad?”

It’s a joke but she takes it seriously.

“They are when they’re desired,” she stands up, collecting her things and he wonders where he’s gone wrong. Brown curls over her face and hides her eyes from view. “Excuse me, I have something I need to do.”

“Now?”

He can’t help the disappointment that edges his voice.

“It’s nothing much but it’s important that I do it soon.”

There’s something ominous about the way she smiles at him and Rev realizes why in an instant-

She’s brushing him off. She’s thinking that Rev is one of _them_. Aoi Zaizen believes he’s one of those who cuddle up to her for money.

_No._

_Don’t._

**_Please._ **

Without thinking, he grabs her wrist. There’s a sharp intake of breath and she turns around to face him, mouth wide with questions.

He flushes red.

“May I…May I see you again?”

There’s a gentle pause and she says softly: “Perhaps.”

~~~

It’s three days later when she comes to him again.

He’s not expecting it. He’s lost all hope by the time she approaches him, expecting him to become another one of her cold-shoulder buddies as her gaze meets his. He expects her to not say anything, to not pause and to keep moving forward.

She does none of those things.

Strawberries waft around him as she comes to a halt, amber gaze watching and waiting. When she sees he doesn’t have an appropriate response, she comes up with one of her own.

“Can I ask you a few questions?” she watches as his eyebrows furrow and then elaborates. “There are some things I didn’t understand on our latest science assignments.”

“Ah,” is all he says before her gaze sparks with confusion and he hurries to correct himself. “Yeah, sure, I’d be up for it. What time would work for you?”

Her hand rises up to curl a strand of brown hair around her finger tip. “I was thinking we could go to the local restaurant that’s near my place tomorrow afternoon. It’s not too fancy but it’s very quiet and a nice place to relax. I’ll meet you here if you like?”

“I…uh…sure?” he stutters despite himself and she offers up a polite laugh. “That’d work for me.”

“See you then,” she waves and brushes past him.

Rev flusters at the obvious contact, spinning around to watch as she departs. Around him, his classmates eyes dig daggers, wanting to know the secret to Aoi Zaizen’s approval.

He smiles at them and shrugs.

“We’re study-buddies.”

~~~

Aoi meets up with Rev at the entrance to the school the next day. He’s dressed in a rather casual outfit and Aoi can honestly say she’s a little disappointed in his tastes.

“Ready to go?”

He holds up a textbook with roughly the same amount of pages as a dictionary. “Of course.”

“Then let’s move.”

She begins to leave and he follows her lead, taking to her left as they take to the streets. He’s rather nervous, fidgeting with the strap of his bag and shuffling his textbook from arm to arm. Such an odd boy but, perhaps, she is more comfortable in his presence than in anyone else’s.

“So,” Rev manages a question and she peers over at him with mild interest, “what exactly did you have issues with? The multiple choice part or the answer-in-words part?”

She fibs.

“Both.”

“And why did you choose me to help you?”

“You seemed to know the material.”

A test.

He recognizes it.

“Ah, right. Yes, I do. Science is my forte if I’m honest with myself. Yours?”

“Math, for sure.”

“Should have figured. You had really passionate explanations when we had our study session.”

“Right.”

“Are you a math geek then?”

She laughs, “I don’t know, am I?”

There’s suspicion, a kind of wariness that flickers in his eyes. He looks over her, uncertain, and then smiles as if he senses her intentions.

“No, maybe not.”

~~~

They arrive at the restaurant not too long later. It’s a red building made of bricks and flowers, creating an inviting scene that beckons them in.

At the entrance, a waiter greets them. He acts familiar with Aoi, smiling and bringing her to a table with a little chitchat on the side, but he does not ignore Rev either. In fact, he invites the boy into the conversation, intrigued as to why, for perhaps the first time ever, “Miss Aoi Zaizen has brought along a boyfriend”.

“We’re not that way!” he protests before Aoi can even say anything. He tries to keep color from tingeing his cheeks. “We’re just study buddies.”

The waiter laughs and guides them aside. He gives them glasses of water and then takes his leave without any more words.

“I hope I wasn’t out of line?” Rev asks as he sits down.

She shakes her head. “You’re fine.”

He places his textbook in front of her and cracks it open. He makes a show of flipping through pages before he reaches the one of interest. By the time he looks up, Aoi Zaizen is sitting pretty. Her papers are out before her and she already has a pencil already in hand when his attention drifts to her.

“So, what problems are you stuck on?”

“Numbers 2, 6 and 7 for the multiple choice,” she says, before flipping her paper over and continuing on, “and the last four questions for the response part.”

Oh. Not too bad. They’re not easy questions.

“Alright, let’s start with this one…”

He launches into an explanation, giving step-by-step details of how to do each problem. She takes notes as he talk, her pencil moving fast and furious while his gaze flits to hers whenever he has to take a breather. She’s curious and often gets herself muddled in his explanations but she adapts fast, learning quickly and solving things before he can even answer. He eats a sandwich in the meanwhile, chewing away in the moments where he remains silent and observant. After quite a bit of time, Aoi orders lunch herself, eats it, and then finishes her work shortly after.

“Wow, not too bad,” she stretches. “You’re pretty good.”

He smiles. “You too. You’re a fast learner.”

“Thanks,” she stands up, tucks a strand of hair away, and then gathers her belongings.

He does the same, quiet and unable to think of words.

“Hey,” bells chime and he looks up to see her peering over her, “do you mind if we do this more often? It wouldn’t hurt either of us if we tutored each other.”

There’s a slight _ba-bump_ of his heart. “I wouldn’t mind,” he holds out a hand and grins. “We’ll be true study buddies, right?”

She shakes it with glimmering eyes. “Right.”

~~~~

Days, weeks, and months pass. They’ve formed a pattern, meeting up at the same restaurant every Thursday at the same time, same hour. Hardly do they miss a meeting and, if they do, there’s often a letter left behind for the other to read via the waiter who is more amused than anything at such requests. When they’re together, they take turns ordering food, cash passing between hands as they talk back and forth.

At first, they are formal with each other. Barriers exist between them, rigid and unbreakable. They stand like walls that keep one side from the other. Eventually, however, the wind of their voices chips them away until they ground into dust and ashes.

One day, when their classmates suspect them a little too much, one brave soul dares to ask the question most on their minds:

“Are you two dating?”

Rev and Aoi look at each other, hands obviously intertwined, and then shrug with secretive smiles that speak more than the others will ever know.

“We’re study buddies.”

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all out there with a RevAoi thirst I hope I did this justice enough. It's hard to portray Rev in a non-VR light so I guess this is technically AU bc I have no idea how to write him without tacking on the fact that he's "Revolver" as his only form of IRL personality. I feel like he'd be the type to manipulate others bc he could care less for those who don't attend to his goals. However, contradictory, those he respects he tends to pay attention to and observe with (somewhat) obsessive interest. The person of interest here being, of course, Aoi Zaizen.
> 
> I admit this fic isn't as ~romantic~ as it probably should be but I'm more establishing Aoi seeing that Rev isn't necessarily after her wealth and that he's actually interested in her as a person while Rev takes the time to know her more. Granted, this piece is very short so that probably doesn't all get across but I had to scrap my previous idea (temporarily - I might revisit it) due to possible length complications (as in, I can see myself going for chapters and chapters on that idea :/). I'm really bad at continuing stories (*weak laughter at my Machinists and Dragon Enigmatic fics*) but that might also be due to an admitted lack of rigid planning (don'tkillme because at least i know the basics of how those stories go).


End file.
